Artists Blur the Boundry Between Math and Art

ARiThmetic is a group exhibit held at Albany Center Gallery opening on Tuesday February 17 and running until Saturday March 28. The opening reception will be held on Friday, March 6 from 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. in conjunction with 1st Friday in Albany NY. ARiThmetic blurs the line between mathematics and visual art and features the work of William Bergman, Beninga Chilla, Nat Friedman and Maria Hall. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday Noon - 5 p.m. and the gallery is located at 39 Columbia Street between N. Pearl and Broadway in Downtown Albany, NY.

William Bergman is a regional artist, working mainly in ceramics and sculpture. He attained his MFA in 1996 from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and has had exhibitions at museums such as the Tang Teaching Museum in Saratoga, NY and Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, MA. Bergman was named Best Local Artist by Metroland’s Best of 1999.

Benigna Chilla began studying art in her home country of Germany at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. She completed her studies in the United States, and has held positions at the University of Massachusetts, Brown University, Cornell University, and the Rhode Island School of Design. She is currently a faculty member at Berkshire Community College. She is best known for her geometric optical work and was featured at the conference of Art and Mathematics in 2007.

Nat Friedman, a professor of mathematics at the University of Albany since 1968, is an avid sculptor, print maker and mathematician. He has long been interested in the link between mathematics and art, bolstering interest in the topic by teaching classes on the unity of art and mathematics, and organizing the first ever art and mathematics conference at SUNYA in 1992. In addition, he has developed a new technique for making natural fractal stone prints.

Maria Hall has had a plentiful amount of exhibitions at such places as the James Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Skidmore College, Utica College of Syracuse, and the Schenectady Museum. She has shown her sculptures in juried exhibitions including Downtown Albany’s Sculpture in the Streets and the Adelphi University Sculpture Biennial. In addition, her work has been sited in other public places such as the HollyCroft Invitational, LaPaix Sculpture Garden, Sculpture in the Parks, Outdoor Sculpture in the Berkshires and the Empire State Plaza, Albany. Group exhibitions include Sculpture in the Hills, the Hudson Art Walk, and the OIA Postcard Exhibition in New York City and Bologna, Italy. Works of hers permanently reside in the Schenectady Museum, William Paterson University, SUNY Albany, and the Griffis Sculpture Park. She speaks of her sculptures as attempts of simple yet dynamic compositions, which move one emotionally while drawing from many different elements, ultimately intending to create an enigmatic, yet complete, whole.